Engineering the Golden Gate Bridge

Engineering the Golden Gate Bridge — page 3 — across the Golden Gate Strait Its graceful lines bright orange color and beautiful setting make it a work of SUSPENSION BRIDGES The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge This type of bridge uses towers at each end The bridge deck is suspended from cables attached to the towers The deck has no supports underneath it as many other types of bridges do Suspension bridges are most useful over large spans art Its distinct profile has become a symbol of the United States It is also a feat of modern engineering THE BRIDGE THAT COULDN’T BE BUILT The quest to build the bridge began in an unlikely way It started when a powerful earthquake shook San Francisco on April 18 1906 The earthquake lasted less than one minute As the ground shook candles and gas lamps tipped over They ignited fires that burned across the city for three days More than 28,000 buildings were destroyed 6

Engineering the Golden Gate Bridge — page 4 — The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 broke open gas and water mains leaving no way to stop fires from destroying nearly 500 city blocks The city lay in ruins Its residents needed new homes offices and public buildings The city also needed new roads and bridges Mayor James Rolph appointed a city engineer to oversee this work His name was Michael O’Shaughnessy As part of the rebuilding effort O’Shaughnessy dreamed of building a bridge across the Golden Gate Strait For years nothing happened The project was too difficult A bridge across the strait would need to be nearly two miles 3 km long No one had ever made a suspension bridge that long before The bridge would also need to be incredibly strong It would have to 7

Engineering the Golden Gate Bridge — page 5 — THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE Nevada Utah Sacramento Oakland San Francisco Marin County San Francisco Bay Golden Gate Bridge San Francisco Oakland California Arizona Los Angeles The Golden Gate Strait is the natural entrance to San Francisco Bay This map shows how the Golden Gate Bridge connects San Francisco with Marin County over the strait Is it different from the way you imagined it after reading Chapter One How does seeing the map help you better understand the need for a bridge across the Golden Gate Strait withstand earthquakes high winds and strong currents Many people criticized the project They said a bridge like that couldn't be built JOSEPH B STRAUSS The bridge project did not move forward but the city's other rebuilding went well San Francisco grew quickly

Engineering the Golden Gate Bridge — page 6 — DON’T BUILD THE BRIDGE The Golden Gate Bridge did not please everyone The Southern Pacific ferry service strongly opposed it Every weekday it ferried 50,000 workers across the bay With a bridge they could drive across the bay themselves The US War Department also opposed the bridge It feared the bridge would be an easy target for an enemy to destroy Doing so would potentially block the harbor and trap ships inside it But the city’s growth was limited by its border on the bay The only way to get across San Francisco Bay was by ferry Cars waiting in line for the ferry created terrible traffic jams in the city The interest in building a bridge grew O’Shaughnessy wanted to find an experienced engineer for the project In 1919 he contacted Joseph B Strauss Strauss had designed nearly 400 bridges He agreed to design a bridge across the bay Strauss worked for more than a year on the design In 1921 he presented his plans City officials and the 9

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